Making Whiteness : The Culture of Segregation in the South, 1890-1940 (Vintage)

Rating:
Summary: Worth every word.
Review: Dr. Hale has written an excellent work that treats the psycho-social construction of racial predjudice in America. This work is must reading for all those interested in riding their minds, and by association, our nation of the politics of racial pollerization. Her vivid treatment of barbarious lynching will leave the reader either profoundly angry or demonstratively abashed about what horror we are capable of her in the United States. The President's national commission on race would do well to read and openly discuss this grounbreaking and poignant volume.

Rating:
Summary: Segregation Artfully Explained
Review: Lately, I find myself rereading books that challenge my understanding (not to mention my preconceived notions) of race history, but none more than Grace Elizabeth Hale's "Making Whiteness." This gem of a book ultimately defines the construction of race in the early 20th Century South and is written in a style reminiscent of Du Bois and Langston Hughes. It is an intelligent and informative examination of "class exploitation, disempowerment and racial privilege" that dares to reimagine the concept of racial integration. To quote from the book: "We need to remember that difference is created within, not before, our communities; that difference is created within, and not before, our histories; that difference is created within, and not before, ourselves." Over the past few months, I have amassed several books on race, segregation, Reconstruction, lynchings, Jim Crow, etc., and I consider "Making Whiteness" a cornerstone in my library.

Rating:
Summary: verbose but useful
Review: This is a valuable contribution to a growing subfield that is finally examining the social construction of whiteness. I believe Jacobson's Whiteness of a Different Color to be superior, and honestly, Hale needs to lose some of the academic jargon. But overall, this is a well-researched study. I do take issue, however, with the introduction when Hale claims that whites "were not the victims of racism." Not the chief victims certainly, but victims nonetheless. Hasn't the South's reputation for backwardness and bigotry damaged its economic opportunities, and made "the southern redneck" the new villain of post-1960s pop culture? What all this emphasis on race discrimination does is to de-emphasize the class discrimination that harms whites and blacks both. To say that Billy Bob living in his trailer home has benefitted from the privilege of whiteness is farcical. Not that Hale says this, but isn't it time that more serious scholars examine the way tht race acts as a chimera to divert us from deeper divisions of class and nationality?

Rating:
Summary: Worth every word.
Review: This is not an easy book to read either intellectually or psychologically, but this is not an easy subject to communicate, either. However difficult the academic vocabulary of the author, the fact remains that her concepts and ideas are clearly presented, the chapters well-formed, and sections thoughtfully connected. Dr. Hale's explanation of segregation, how it was developed, maintained and why, is logical, well-documented, and profound. She effectively communicates how completely pervasive, paradoxical, and pathological, segregation was. THe book also communicates how everyone, not just southerners and not just men, contributed to the culture of segregation and why. In short, Dr. Hale finally presents the BIG Picture: the reasons why "equal rights" aren't really equal, why prejudice is still rampant, and why affirmative action isn't enough. For anyone who wants to really understand segregation, the civil rights movement, and race relations in late 20th and early 21st century America, this book is a must read. IT is thought-provoking and profound.